Three experiments examined the effects of natural and urban environments on
mood and the subsequent recall of emotionally valenced materials. In exper
iment 1, subjects read words denoting positive and negative emotions and ra
ted how well the words applied to them in general. photographic simulations
of natural and urban/industrial environments were then used to induce eith
er positive or negative moods prior to free recall of the words used for se
lf-description. Experiment 2 used similar environmental simulations to indu
ce different moods, after which subjects recalled personal memories. Experi
ment 3 was conducted in field settings (botanical garden and urban intersec
tion) and crossed environment with type of material to be recalled in a fac
torial design. In all three experiments the environmental manipulation prod
uced changes in self-reported moods as expected; however, the mood effects
were, at most, moderate in size. None of the experiments produced clear evi
dence of mood congruent recall. The results suggest that mood congruence ef
fects do not occur with the normally small to moderate mood variations attr
ibutable to environmental variations. (C) 1999 Academic Press.